In many technical areas it is necessary to connect two or more parts to be joined to one another with a material bond and for this purpose to press the parts to be joined against one another with great pressing pressure. In the case of conventional methods there is often the risk of the parts to be joined being damaged or contaminated with foreign substances, such as for example oil, during or after the connecting process. Furthermore, very large frames and presses, which withstand the high forces occurring during the pressing operation, are used in the case of the conventional methods. On account of their size, however, these frames and presses are expensive, unwieldy and also require considerable space. It is also often difficult in the case of conventional methods to position the parts to be joined in the press, since they generally have to be positioned exactly in register on one another in the press before the pressing operation.